Wolff: Hamilton did use ‘party mode’ in Q3

Editor

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has counteracted Lewis Hamilton's claim that he did not use a superior engine mode in Q3 in Australia.

Sebastian Vettel could only smile in the post-qualifying press conference when the Brit claimed he raced in the same mode in Q2 and Q3 as he smashed the all-time track record.

“I can assure you we don’t have a party mode,” said Hamilton, when asked how he found such rapid improvement. “I used the same mode from Q2 to end of Q3. So there was no extra mode that I engaged.”

Wolff, though, later said that Mercedes' 'party mode' was in fact turned on for Q3.

“There is a party mode in the car, we switched the party mode on in Q3," Wolff admitted.

“There was no difference from the first run in Q3 to the second run in Q3, he just said that he had a great lap, pulled it all together, carried more speed through the apexes.”

“The gap was down to Lewis Hamilton putting in a lap with the grip level that he didn’t seem to be able to extract before,.

"Everything was in the sweet spot, I guess. There wasn’t any difference in modes.”